If At First You Don't Succeed
by LittleHellion
Summary: ...You fail. That's the way the system works. All Hyuuga know this...it's just the rest of the world that doesn't understand. And Hinata sama, but that's not surprising, because she's a failure too.
1. Chapter 1

I randomly got this idea for a story...so I wrote it. I should explain the reason it's divided up into eleven chapters; the way I wrote it would be impossible to lump together into one chapter. So, think of it as a drabble series or something.

Disclaimer: I'm writing fan fiction. I hope you understand what I mean.

By the way, this is NejixHinata...just to warn you all.

* * *

_If at first you don't succeed, you fail._

A truism in the life of all Hyuuga…which is why, Neji thinks privately, there are more Hyuuga geniuses _outside _of the household.

It is a shock when Neji is put on a team with Lee and Tenten, because neither of them are geniuses and what kind of specialist team will they be if he's the only one who can _do _anything? Sure, Tenten has her weapons, but she's nothing special. And Lee…

Oh, just kill him now. The only thing he's good at is freaking people out with those huge eyebrows and that indomitable personality. If Neji takes an _honest _look at Gai, he can maybe respect him, but he's freakishly enthusiastic and there are only so many tooth-sparkles his poor eyes can take. So he respects him like he respects the clan head and his family – out loud, and incredibly insincerely. And when Lee asks him to spar…he'll shoot him down.

It's petty, and he knows it; he's crushing the dreams of a boy less fortunate than even _he _is. But Neji can't decide what's worse…being _pestered _by the boy, or by some freakish miracle, being_ beaten _by the boy. _Neji _is not a failure, nor will he_ ever _be.

Neji knows very well that along the line, many decisions have been affected by some stuffy geezer's faulty logic, but it hurts to know that his father was a failure because he was born second, and that makes Neji a failure by default. It's _not _a dog-eat-dog world out there for people like _him;_ it's only a dog-eat-dog world for _dogs, _and Neji is only a sharp tooth inside the dog's mouth.

A polished, perfect weapon, used to get rid of annoyances before they can hurt the dog – the main house, in this case.


	2. Chapter 2

What Neji hates more than anything else is people like Lee, people like this _Naruto –_ people who can see a future that isn't theirs, people who_ insist _on a future that isn't theirs. Neji used to daydream about _insisting _he become the clan head, and…well, he knows how that would end. _Everybody _knows how that would end.

So really, he's probably doing Naruto a favor right now, by killing him before he has to kill himself after he gets captured and tortured for information.

There's only so much idiocy a guy can take, and this Naruto is a world-class idiot. The only way he's getting out of this is if he's hiding some secondary chakra source in there – which is impossible, of course.


	3. Chapter 3

He has seen Hinata-sama watching Naruto. Hell, _everyone _knows that Hinata-sama is fascinated by and enamored with the blond dynamo, except aforementioned idiot. Yes, he _is _still an idiot; he's just an idiot who can back up his words. Neji respects him and envies him, for reasons he really doesn't understand.

He doesn't envy Lee in the way he envies _Naruto; _Lee is not the same, at all. Naruto is…_Naruto. _If the world was ending, Naruto would most certainly be in the middle of it all, with or without permission. Neji knows that Naruto will eventually either be the savior or the destroyer of the world, after all…he doesn't understand why he knows this, but it _is _true. Neji can feel it within his every bone.

And he envies Naruto, because his laugh is very, very young and his eyes are very, very old and he's as sane as any ninja can ever hope to be.


	4. Chapter 4

Neji loves to watch Hinata-sama in the garden. He's not sure _why, _because it seems so inane and mundane and makes him feel ridiculous. But he likes it anyway.

Hinata-sama has that dreamy look on her face, and Neji knows she's thinking about Naruto. Neji feels angry at her for some odd reason, even though he knows it's not her fault she fell in love. He can only hope Naruto doesn't end up returning her affections, because…

Because _what? _Naruto puts _everything _into _everything _he does, and Hinata-sama would be good for him…she might calm him down a bit. Maybe he takes such offense to her affections toward the blond because when Hiashi-sama finds out about and forbids their relationship (and he _will, _someday, because Naruto is as un-Hyuuga as they come), he'll have to deal with the confusion and tears of his cousin (and the confusion and anger of someone he respects).

It won't matter that Naruto is one of the best ninja in Konohagakure, one of the most respected. It won't matter that Hiashi-sama himself respects the boy; with Hyuuga, it all comes down to _design, _and Naruto isn't _designed_ to be clan head.

He's still a failure in the eyes of the Hyuuga, because he tried, and failed.


	5. Chapter 5

When Sakura accepts the proposal from Naruto, Hinata-sama cries, but it seems that Neji is the only one who notices. Not even Sakura, who for some reason has changed her views toward the ever-cheerful jinchuuriki. After all these years, Hinata-sama has never said anything, and Sakura has finally seen what a wonderful person Naruto is.

Neji can't help but be angry, at all of them.

Sakura, for accepting Naruto's advances, after denying them for so long. Granted, this was two years ago, but…she _had _to have known that there are other people who love him!

Naruto, for being so obtuse and stupid. He's always had a one-track mind…and Sakura was on that track.

Hinata-sama, for giving her heart…no, for anonymously leaving it in a paper bag at Naruto's front door. He's not exactly bright enough to piece together the whole puzzle, and honestly, if that was a real scenario, he'd probably throw it away, thinking it was some sort of practical joke.

Who gives their heart anonymously, anyway?


	6. Chapter 6

When Hinata-sama says Neji should 'talk to them,' he doesn't understand. He tells her so, and she frowns thoughtfully, before looking at him with soft eyes, something he doesn't hate any more.

She tells him that he must be in love, because he's acting heartbroken…which doesn't make sense. Neji isn't in love; the only girls he ever spends copious amounts of time with are Tenten, who is happily married to Lee, and Hinata-sama herself.

He thinks he must have said this out loud, because Hinata-sama suddenly looks away, blushing, pokes her fingers together, and asks shyly if it's a _man_ he's interested in.

This makes him laugh. He never thought Hinata-sama would – no, he never thought she _could – _think so perversely. His laughter makes her blush deepen; probably because he rarely laughs, and she must think he's laughing at some idiocy or other. Her self-esteem is still terribly low, even though it shouldn't be.

He clears his throat and explains that _no, _he is not in love with a boy; that he isn't in love at all. The frown of confusion looks out of place on her face, and he has to resist the temptation to turn away. It's very unnerving when she cocks her head to the side and tells him, in her very quiet voice, that he'll be able to admit it someday, and there's no trace of shyness anywhere.


	7. Chapter 7

Hinata-sama is smiling when Hokage-sama – Naruto, that is – glows with pride, because it's a girl. Neji knows that Naruto didn't care _what _the gender was, because children were children and Naruto _loves _children, but when he finds out it's a girl, he can't keep the smile off his face.

He only falters slightly when Sakura asks him what he'd like the name to be. Neji knows Naruto already has a name picked out. Neji knows that Naruto is afraid to _say _the name _aloud, _because doing so would make it real. Neji knows this because Naruto is an open book when his guard is down, which is most of the time, and the Byakugan may not be able to see everything but Neji can see inside Naruto's head because he _knows_ Naruto.

So it isn't _too_ much of a surprise when Naruto guiltily looks away from Sakura's inquiring face and says _Ino, _but it _is _a surprise when Sakura starts crying and throws her arms around her husband and says _thank you._

Neji remembers the mission, because it was Ino's first C-ranked mission as a jounin sensei. Neji and Naruto were sent to back them up, but they were a moment too late; they caught the _very _tail end of the battle, and everyone died.

Everyone, including the attackers, because Naruto slaughtered them all.

Naruto knew that Ino was Sakura's first relationship, and really, her first love. Sasuke was Sakura's first _obsession, _but Ino will always be Sakura's first everything that _counts._

Hinata-sama only frowns when Sakura says _thank you, _and Neji thinks that maybe it's because Hinata-sama _still _loves Hokage-sama (how odd it is to call him that, and yet so right), and Sakura obviously still loves Ino.

Maybe it's a lot of different things, but Neji doesn't have time to think about it; because at that moment, Hinata-sama turns to him and quietly asks if it is disrespectful to the dead to name children after them. When they name _their _children, will it be disrespectful to call one of them Hanabi?

Neji blinks in surprise, before realizing that she's including him because he's_ Hyuuga, _and he should know about things like this. He's_ Hyuuga, _and only a Hyuuga would ever know that the sisters were closer than average sisters – more like _twins – _and Hinata-sama cried every night for _months _after Hanabi-sama died.

He replies that he doesn't know, because he _doesn't._


	8. Chapter 8

Hinata-sama looks beautiful just now, in the garden, running her fingers over the surface of the koi pond. Her hair is pulled up in an elegant knot, and her regular clothes are switched for a furisode in white and dark blue, elegant vines creeping up from the hem. She's not supposed to be here; she's supposed to be in _there, _drilling last-minute on customs and procedure.

But she's not; she's sighing in sadness instead, and Neji feels a strange urge to comfort her. He sits beside her. She says hello without looking up, and he has to admire how much she's grown. It shouldn't make him this happy – after all, she'll make a fine head of house, and he mistreated her for half their life. But it does anyway.

He tells her she should be inside, and she laughs, but without amusement. She says she knows, but she can't bring herself to go back in. She points out that she never wanted to be clan head in the first place; what she really wanted was to please her father; but it happened, and tonight it goes public. She says that he would make a better head of house, and she admits that sometimes she wishes _Hiashi-sama _had been born second.

He reminds her of what happened to _his _father, but she just smiles sadly and shrugs. She tells him that if she could, she'd take that burden off his shoulders any day; and for some reason this doesn't make him angry, like it would have all those years ago.


	9. Chapter 9

It is two days after Hinata-sama's inauguration as clan head that Neji realizes she doesn't call him Neji-niisan, and prefers to call him Neji-kun instead. The strangest part about all of this is that he didn't, until just now, and she's been calling him Neji-kun for a while now.

In fact, he only notices because Tenten points it out, and ask him how long it's been going on.

He honestly doesn't know.


	10. Chapter 10

He _could _say Hinata-sama rules with an iron fist, because it's true, but she does things very differently than her father did. Not that Neji_ minds, _or anything, but it _is _awkward when Hinata-sama bans the seal from being used.

_If at first you don't succeed, you fail…?_

Neji wonders how she managed it, because there are some things that are just _taboo, _but Hinata-sama found a way.

He doesn't thank her, though, because after revealing her decision, she avoids him like the plague. And for some reason, this hurts more than the seal ever did.


	11. Chapter 11

When she commands him to walk with her, leaving any suffix off the end of his name, he begins to wonder how much being head of the clan has changed her. He has to remind himself that she's always been very pliable; she has been able to conform to every situation.

He worries, but oddly enough, he worries for her, and not for himself.

He mentally prepares himself to be lectured, punished, anything – for what, he hasn't a clue, but why _else _would she be so direct and informal?

When he gathers up his nerve and looks at her, he is taken aback at the smile on her face. It is a kind one, a smile that sends a strangely pleasant warm feeling to his stomach and a slight haziness to his mind. It's happened before, but he's never really thought about it.

When he asks Hinata-sama what it is she needs, she frowns slightly and places her hand on his cheek.

She says that they should drop this farce, and he doesn't know what she means…but he makes the mistake of looking into her eyes, and suddenly, he _does._

He wonders how long he's been in love with her, and why he never noticed until she _said_ something. He wonders why he fell in love with his _cousin, _the woman who was both fortunate and unfortunate enough to be born into the main house, the woman who has forgiven him too many things.

He wonders how she could've ever fallen in love with _him._

But he stops wondering, as soon as her lips touch his, because really, who cares _why, _when it's already here?

In this moment, he knows exactly why Naruto is able to live in the _now, _because you can't be somewhere else when the person you love just kissed you.

_If at first you don't succeed, you fail._

A truism in the life of all Hyuuga. But Hinata learned from watching the person she admired most, from the time he was stupid little Uzumaki Naruto to still stupid but not-so-little Hokage-sama, and she has succeeded in doing things many people would _never _have suspected a _failure _to accomplish.

He used to rely on all the Hyuuga truisms, but maybe that 'truism' isn't so true, after all.


End file.
